IRVINE, Calif.—Freshman Michelle Ohwobete led the Gauchos to their third straight win Friday night sending down a career-high 23 kills UCSB Women's Volleyball's five-set win over UC Irvine. Despite trailing 2-1, the Gauchos bounced back to win sets four and five and keep a share of first place in the Big West.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• Ohwobete's 23 kill performance is the sole 20+ kill effort for the Gauchos this season
• In addition, she had seven digs, five blocks, and went a perfect 27-for-27 on serve receptions
• Four other Gauchos in Rowan Ennis (13), Abrielle Bross (12), Tallulah Froley (10), and Deni Wilson (10) had double digit kills as well
• Ennis had another efficient showing posting a 13-1-23 line for a match-best .522 hitting percentage to go with six blocks
• Mehanna Ma'a had a career-high 32 assists and scooped 10 digs while Grace Kloss found 30 of her own to with 14 digs and three aces
• Macall Peed scooped a match-high 22 digs and committed just one error on 21 reception attempts
• This is the first five-set win for the Gauchos who previously lost their first five marathon matches of the season

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set (25-23 UCI)

• The host Anteaters grabbed an early lead in the opening set but the Gauchos battle back to grab their first lead at 20-19
• Unfortunately, UCI managed to close the set on a 6-3 run to go up 1-0 in the match
• UCSB hit a match-low .122 to UCI's match-high .265

Second Set (25-22 UCSB)

• Bouncing back in the second frame were the visiting Gauchos jumping out to a lead that they never relinquished to the Anteaters
• UCI cut the lead to just one at 21-20 but the Gauchos closed out the set on 4-1run after a well-timed timeout from head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch to even the match at 1-1

Third Set (30-28 UCI)

• Set three seemed to be the turning point of the match as despite trailing 22-16 the Anteaters refused to quit and battled back to take the set 30-28
• The set saw 10 ties and three lead changes, while Ohwobete notched nine kills

Fourth Set (25-21 UCSB)

• With their backs against the wall, the Gauchos won a fourth set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes
• Ennis was the Gaucho to lean on posting a 4-0-5 line for an .800 hitting percentage
• After taking a 14-12 lead the Gauchos kept a distance of two or more points till the finish that was capped off by an ace from Peed

Fifth Set (15-9 UCSB)

• One of the few things left on the docket for the Gauchos this season was to win a fifth set and they crossed that off the list tonight riding the momentum in the fourth frame to a victory
• UCSB jumped out to a 5-1 lead causing a UCI timeout
• A huge block from Ennis and Froley ended the match and gave UCSB its 10^th conference win

UP NEXT
The Gauchos now have a quick turnaround facing UC San Diego tomorrow night at 7 PM in La Jolla, Calif.